Nationalndtservices

A Decade of Severe Workplace Injuries in America: 105,996 Cases — and the Most-Injured Trade Isn't on a Construction Site

An analysis of every severe work injury reported to federal OSHA from January 2015 through November 2025 — 85,196 hospitalizations, 27,944 amputations, and 35 losses of an eye — finds that nearly one in four cases involves a worker's fingers, and that specialty trade contractors (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and finishing crews) record more severe injuries than any other industry in the U.S. economy.

Key Findings

  1. One in four severe injuries is a finger. Fingertip and finger injuries account for 25,459 of 105,996 cases (24.0%) — 10,402 fingertip injuries, 8,236 finger/fingernail injuries, and 6,821 unspecified finger injuries.
  2. The most-injured industry isn't construction — it's the crews who wire, pipe, and finish buildings. Specialty trade contractors (HVAC / plumbing / electrical / finishing) top all detailed industries with 11,493 severe injuries — ahead of food manufacturing (6,430) and fabricated metal products (5,163).
  3. Machines, not falls, are the #1 cause. "Caught in running equipment or machinery" caused 11,992 severe injuries over the decade — 6,694 during regular operation and 5,298 during maintenance and cleaning.
  4. Food manufacturing leads amputations. 3,055 amputations in a decade, driven by grinders, mixers, and slicers.
  5. Texas recorded the most cases (17,491) — but state rankings come with an asterisk: about 22 states run their own safety programs and don't fully report to federal OSHA (see Methodology).
  6. The trend is slowly improving. Annual cases fell from 9,823 (2015) to 8,712 (2025), with a peak of 11,156 in 2018.
Fingers (all, combined)27,746Multiple body parts5,184Body systems (whole body)4,940Legs4,131Hips3,739Nonclassifiable3,720Brain3,648Ankles3,496Lower legs3,412Chest2,681Fingertip + finger/fingernail categories combined. Source: federal OSHA severe injury reports, 2015–2025.
Chart 1. Injured body parts, ranked. Finger categories combined account for 24.0% of all 105,996 cases. Source: National NDT Services analysis of federal OSHA severe injury reports, Jan 2015 – Nov 2025. Download this chart (SVG)
Specialty trade contractors11,493Food manufacturing6,430Fabricated metal products5,163Administrative & support services (incl. temp agencies)4,382Heavy & civil engineering construction4,022Building construction3,504Durable goods merchant wholesalers3,409Transportation equipment manufacturing2,909Machinery manufacturing2,670Nondurable goods merchant wholesalers2,665Detailed industries by severe injury cases, 2015–2025. Counts, not rates.
Chart 2. Detailed industries with the most severe injuries. Specialty trade contractors — the crews who wire, pipe, and finish buildings — rank first. Source: National NDT Services analysis of federal OSHA severe injury reports, Jan 2015 – Nov 2025. Download this chart (SVG)
Caught in running equipment or machinery13,989Fall to lower level (unspecified)5,921Compressed/pinched by shifting objects4,985Same-level fall (slipping)3,681Fall to lower level (<6 ft)3,310Same-level fall (tripping)2,660Struck against moving machinery part2,235Exposure to environmental heat2,196Caught/compressed (unspecified)2,153Machine entanglement during regular operation and maintenance combined.
Chart 3. What caused the injury. Being caught in running equipment or machinery, across regular operation and maintenance, is the single largest cause. Source: National NDT Services analysis of federal OSHA severe injury reports, Jan 2015 – Nov 2025. Download this chart (SVG)
Food manufacturing3,055Fabricated metal products2,490Specialty trade contractors1,516Wood product manufacturing1,312Machinery manufacturing1,220Plastics & rubber products manufacturing1,206Transportation equipment manufacturing1,122Primary metal manufacturing1,066Durable goods merchant wholesalers961Administrative & support services (incl. temp agencies)859Amputations by detailed industry, 2015–2025.
Chart 4. Amputations by industry. Food manufacturing leads, driven by grinders, mixers, and slicers. Source: National NDT Services analysis of federal OSHA severe injury reports, Jan 2015 – Nov 2025. Download this chart (SVG)
03,0006,0009,00012,0009,823201510,084201610,445201711,156201811,07120198,91520208,70320219,11020228,94320239,03420248,7122025* 2025 covers January through November.
Chart 5. Severe injury cases by year, 2015–2025. The 2025 figure covers January through November. Source: National NDT Services analysis of federal OSHA severe injury reports, Jan 2015 – Nov 2025. Download this chart (SVG)
Texas17,491Florida11,708Pennsylvania8,361Ohio8,253Illinois6,394Georgia5,984New York5,287Wisconsin4,302Alabama3,536Missouri3,263* About 22 states run their own safety programs and do not fully report to federal OSHA.
Chart 6. Cases by state, top 10. Roughly 22 states operate their own OSHA-approved programs and do not fully report into the federal dataset; a low ranking does not mean a state is safer. Source: National NDT Services analysis of federal OSHA severe injury reports, Jan 2015 – Nov 2025. Download this chart (SVG)

Methodology

  • Source: U.S. federal OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015 – November 2025. Employers must report any work-related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. This dataset covers severe injuries only — not all workplace injuries.
  • State underreporting: Roughly 22 states and territories (including California and Washington) operate their own OSHA-approved state plans and do not fully report into the federal dataset. State rankings therefore undercount those states; a low ranking does not mean a state is safer.
  • Counts, not rates: Rankings are raw case counts and are not adjusted for each industry's employment. "Most cases" does not mean "highest risk per worker."

Republish Freely

All charts and the underlying CSV tables on this page may be republished free of charge with attribution ("Source: National NDT Services analysis of federal OSHA severe injury reports"). Custom data cuts available on request (by state, industry code, year, injury type, or cause). Contact: tony@dilisights.com.

Coming next from the research desk: occupational illness and inhalation hazards, and state-by-state injury splits.

Byline: Research desk, National NDT Services. Published 2026-10-06.